Religion & Law

Mississippi high school?s prom controversy over lesbian couple?s attendance deepens

Posted on March 30, 2010
USA Today: "A private prom organized for a local high school has been canceled, weeks after a same-sex controversy led to cancellation of the school-sponsored prom, an organizer said Tuesday . . . "

Journalists in China say Yahoo accounts hacked

Posted on March 30, 2010
Breitbart (AP): "Yahoo e-mail accounts belonging to foreign journalists appeared to have been hacked and Google's Chinese search engine was intermittently blocked Tuesday, the latest troubles in China's heavily censored Internet market."

Archdiocese Fights Baltimore Over City?s Pregnancy Center Restrictions

Posted on March 30, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore has filed a legal challenge to the city of Baltimore?s ordinance that requires pro-life pregnancy centers to post on their doors that they do not offer or refer for abortions or birth control services ...

New Hampshire Lawmakers Rush Through Gambling Expansion Bill

Posted on March 30, 2010
Citizen Link: "The New Hampshire Senate approved SB 489 last week, which would legalize 17,000 highly addictive slot machines at horseracing tracks throughout the state . . . "

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Health premiums could rise 17 pct for young adults

Posted on March 30, 2010
AP: "Beginning in 2014, most Americans will be required to buy insurance or pay a tax penalty. That's when premiums for young adults seeking coverage on the individual market would likely climb by 17 percent on average, or roughly $42 a month, according to an analysis of the plan conducted for The Associated Press...

Fate of Kansas smut shop legislation in doubt

Posted on March 30, 2010
Kansas City Star: "Legislation in Kansas to impose new restrictions on strip clubs, adult stores and other sexually oriented businesses faces an uncertain future." SB 514 | Supplemental note on House substitute bill | HB 2633

Clinton in Quebe: Contraception must be part of maternal health

Posted on March 30, 2010
Toronto Sun: "Any global plan to enhance maternal health must include strategies to boost access to birth control, says U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton."

Baptists to Cut Ties with Ga. Church Over Female Pastor

Posted on March 30, 2010
Christian Post: "A more than 95-year-old church in Atlanta may be ousted from the Southern Baptist Convention over a woman pastor . . . "

ADF, NJ legislators oppose marriage redefinition at NJ Supreme Court

Posted on March 30, 2010
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund representing New Jersey legislators filed a motion to intervene Monday to defend against a recently filed motion in a long-ago-resolved lawsuit that seeks to force the Legislature to redefine marriage.

Right to Belong: Christian group says it does; California law school says it doesn?t

Posted on March 30, 2010
David L. Hudson, Jr. writes in the ABA Journal: "Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky is monitoring the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez with a keen eye. One reason is substantive: The case features a clash between the rights of schools to enforce their nondiscrimination policies and student religious groups? rights of freedom of association...

Casey Mattox on KFUO: The right of conscience in the healthcare battle

Posted on March 30, 2010
ADF attorney Casey Mattox appeared on KFUO with Roland Lettner to discuss how the new healthcare legislation might impact rights of conscience. The MP3 runs approximately 24 mins.

ADF to Appeal Decision Against Wrongly Fired Ga. Counselor

Posted on March 30, 2010
The Church Report: "Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will appeal a judge?s ruling against a licensed counselor fired after she referred a person seeking same-sex relationship counseling to a colleague . . . 'A counselor who is a Christian shouldn?t lose her job for upholding the highest professional standards,' said ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum...

Columbia Law Symposium: Pro-life Strategy & Jurisprudence for the 21st Century

Posted on March 30, 2010
"Advocates for Life and Columbia University?s Law Students for Life present a daylong legal symposium on Friday, April 9, 2010 which will dissect some of the most dynamic and evolving areas of abortion law to offer an in-depth look on how current controversies fit into pro-life jurisprudence and how their resolution will impact the pro-life movement...

Oakland Greek Orthodox church vandalized with racist graffiti

Posted on March 29, 2010
AP: "The graffiti was found as people arrived at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension to prepare for Palm Sunday services. They found a giant swastika, profanity and other racial epithets spray-painted on the outside walls and ground."

IL: Cook County judge tosses abortion lawsuit

Posted on March 29, 2010
Chicago Sun-Times: "A Cook County judge today tossed out a lawsuit that aimed to, once and for all, kill the state's long-mothballed law requiring parents to be notified before a teenage girl can get an abortion. But in his complicated ruling, Cook County Judge Daniel A...

Indonesia: Judge denies conservative pressure over porn law

Posted on March 29, 2010
The Jakarta Globe: "Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud MD on Monday dismissed allegations that the court had been under intense pressure from conservatives to reject a challenge of the 2008 Anti-Pornography Law." | Related: Indonesian provinces plan to ignore anti-porn law | Anti-porn statute to remain law of the land in Indonesia

PA: West Rockhill adds more adult entertainment rules

Posted on March 29, 2010
The Reporter: "For the second month in a row, West Rockhill has put new rules on the books to keep a lid on sexually-related businesses. In February, it was restrictions designed to make sure massage parlors are not fronts for prostitution. In March, it was an update to zoning rules for adult entertainment businesses...

European Commission wants stronger sanctions against child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and child pornography

Posted on March 29, 2010
European Commission Press Release: "The European Commission today proposed new rules obliging EU countries to impose more severe punishment on those who sexually abuse children. The proposal also calls for criminal prosecution of activities like 'grooming' (befriending children with the intention of sexually abusing them) and "sex tourism", even if the child abuse has taken place outside the EU...

New measures against human trafficking proposed by European Commission

Posted on March 29, 2010
"The European Commission has proposed new rules to step up the fight against trafficking in human beings. The new proposal, made on March 29 2010, will help to combat modern slavery by 'ensuring consistency of national rules on crimes and penalties, better assistance for victims and tougher action to prosecute criminals responsible for trafficking,' the European Commission media office said...

WI: Clark County DA asking for reconsideration over Amish premises ID ruling

Posted on March 29, 2010
Wisconsin Ag Connection: "An Amish farmer near Loyal may have to go to court once again to fight for his right to be excluded from the state's premises identification registration law. On Friday, Clark County District Attorney Darwin Zwieg filed a motion for reconsideration on behalf of the state after Judge Jon Counsell ruled earlier this month that Emanuel Miller Jr...

For churches, gay-marriage divide sharpens

Posted on March 29, 2010
Des Moines Register: "Ultimately, the difference comes down to this: Is the Bible the written word or the living word? Is it open-and-shut, or open to interpretation? It's a battle of traditionalists vs. progressives. Traditionalists point to Romans, to Leviticus, to 1 Corinthians, each of which calls homosexual behavior a sin...

TX: Appeals court upholds removal of Confederate plaques

Posted on March 29, 2010
American-Statesman: "An Austin appellate court on Friday upheld the removal a decade ago of two politically charged plaques at the state Supreme Court building bearing the Confederate battle flag and seal. The black and gold plaques, installed in the 1960s under a since-repealed provision of law that dedicated the building to Confederate veterans, were removed in 2000 after complaints by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among others...

Duke keeps pro-life group out of women?s center during ?Week for Life?

Posted on March 29, 2010
FIRE: "Duke University's Women's Center has canceled an event about motherhood because the sponsor was engaging in pro-life expression elsewhere on campus. A Women's Center representative told Duke Students for Life (DSFL) that 'we have a problem' and an ideological 'conflict' with the event, which was supposedly canceled to protect Duke women from encountering the event during the group's 'traumatizing' pro-life 'Week for Life...

Tensions flare after recess maneuver

Posted on March 29, 2010
Wall Street Journal: "President Barack Obama's decision to circumvent the Senate in filling 15 administration posts marked another step in the administration's turn toward a more-combative approach toward congressional Republicans, provoking a volley of protests from GOP lawmakers...

Chile needs $260 million to restore churches, bishops estimate

Posted on March 29, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Eighty percent of religious sites in the Chilean regions hit by last month's earthquake are in desperate need of repair, according to a report prepared by the Office of Statistics for the bishops' conference of Chile. The prelates note that some $260 million will be needed for reconstruction efforts...

San Francisco bailout of ?gay center? up for a vote

Posted on March 29, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle, City Insider: "The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to take the unusual step of providing a bailout to the nonprofit San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center."

Survey: 1 in 4 U.S. Christians identify as Pentecostal

Posted on March 29, 2010
Christian Post: "A quarter of American Christians identify as charismatic or Pentecostal, a new survey shows. Those aged 26 to 44 are most likely to claim the Holy Spirit-filled identity (29 percent) compared to other age groups, the Barna Group found...

Christians concerned over mandatory sex lessons for 5-year-olds

Posted on March 29, 2010
Christian Post: "Church and faith school leaders in the United Kingdom have criticized a bill passing through Parliament that seeks to make sex and relationships education compulsory for schoolchildren from the age of five . . . They said the Labour Party's Children, Schools and Families Bill undermined this principle and was seeking to 'impose a particular ideology' by introducing statutory sex and relationships education, something primary schools do not currently have to teach...

Pepsi accused of funding ?gay religious doctrines?

Posted on March 29, 2010
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays: "PepsiCo, Inc. is the leading corporate sponsor of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc. (PFLAG). PFLAG's latest publication, a religious guidebook, incorrectly labels ex-gay conferences as 'anti-gay' and urges PFLAG members to protest against religious conferences which feature ex-gay speakers...

FBI goes after Christian militia in series of weekend raids

Posted on March 29, 2010
CNSNews: "A Christian militia group was a target of at least one of a series of weekend raids the FBI conducted in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, a Michigan militia leader says."

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